pricing power. Morgan Stanley, a global investment bank, has said agents could account for 10%-20% of US e-commerce spending by 2030.
The two retailers are responding differently. Reuters says Amazon has blocked Meta’s shopping agent and has challenged other agent tools in court. Walmart, meanwhile, rolled out tools on October 21st to support “agentic commerce”, including linking an agent to a customer account with purchase approvals and spending limits.
Amazon’s timing is sensitive: Reuters cites LSEG data showing its ad revenue grew 11% year over year in the third quarter, the slowest pace in nearly four years, even as ads are about 10% of net sales. Ads may not disappear, but they could change: more product data that bots can read, and more long-term ad deals instead of pure auctions.
Why should I care?
For markets: If agents cut eyeballs, retail-media auctions can lose pricing power.
Retail media is often high-margin because it sells digital shelf space through…
https://finimize.com/content/amazon-and-walmart-face-an-ai-shopping-agent-dilemma
